August 2023
NEWTON TOWNSHIP MINUTES 8-8-2023
Newton Township Trustees met in regular session on Tuesday, August 8, 2023. Those in attendance were Craig Knox, Fire Chief and Larry Geiger, Deputy Fire Chief; Larken Slack, Derek Dozer and Randy Elson; Township Trustees and Paula Frank, Fiscal Officer. Also, in attendance were, township residents: Shane Stephenson, Brandon Stackhouse, Kent Cornett, Renee Stackhouse, Dave Huff, Donald Longwell, Hunter Longwell, Russ Swope, Rita Swope, Jon Stottsberry, and Emily Wood.
Meeting was called to order by Trustee Dozer at 6:00 pm.
Pledge to the flag was led by Derek Dozer.
Agenda: approved.
Minutes: 2nd page – road report—Carson, Crock and Huggins at top 4 lines from 2nd paragraph. Huggins, Crock and Carson at bottom of same paragraph.
Public Participation: David Huff is asking about the status of Shaw Road. Larken let him know that the road crew has been pulled off their road for some other issues and getting ready to pave other roads. Larken said they would be back on it. Mr. Huff is concerned about the fact that he has had to replace his mailbox several times due to the width of the road. He is also concerned about the hill. Larken let him know that the water department was going to be tearing up the road so they did not think it was wise to pave the road this year. Mr. Huff also has a culvert under Shaw Road that is washing into his yard. 2985 Shaw Road is where this resident lives. He shared video and pictures of the culvert during a rain storm. Dozer asked how many times per year he has issues and Mr. Huff commented it happens every time it rains. Larken said they should be back out on Shaw the end of the month and he will take some measurements and check it out in person.
Russ Swope is concerned about some other areas washing out and they let him know that they just aren’t done yet. Mr. Swope also asked if there could be speed humps installed to slow traffic down. Larken commented that they would not be able to plow snow in the winter if there are speed bumps.
Jon Stottsberry, 2585 Yost Road, is asking for speed limit signs to be put up in front of his house. Derek said the Sheriff’s office is who determines the speed limit on all roads. Craig Knox said you have to pay to have the road surveyed and journaled through the Engineer’s office. ODOT does that work and submits it to the Engineer. If a road has not been legally journaled, the speed limit is 55 mph. Rural roads are 55 mph. The only roads defaulted to 25 mph are in subdivisions.
Emily Wood, 3750 Mona Drive, is asking for speed bumps because people are just flying through. Dozer said it is an issue due to plowing. Dozer said they would definitely discuss the issue. Craig said since that is a subdivision it is just 25 mph – no question. Jason said he had some signs he could put up. The resident also asked about “children at play” signs. Dozer said that had been researched at another time and it is a liability on the township if they put those signs up.
Renee Stackhouse was asking about the vacant lot on Mill Street. Jason said he would mow it.
Fire Department Business: There were 126 dispatched calls in July. 92 in Muskingum County and 34 in Perry County. This makes the total for the year - 724. There were 7 un-covered 12 hour shifts due to vacation season. The training division held a volunteer fire course in July and there was a 100% pass rate. They started a basic EMT class on July 25th. They are starting a FF-I course on August 20th. The Newton Township instructors are assisting the county fire school. That will be held on one day in September.
The Department of Administrative Services has found money for MARCS radio fees so instead of paying double, they will be paying half of what they were paying.
The walk-in cooler is up and running for $384.00. Paul Lock / Lock A/C and Refrigeration is the one who repaired the cooler. It needed a new motor.
Two of the mini-splits have been fixed but the others need new boards but it will be $3,000 - $4,000 per unit and does not give them any warranty. The repair person is also doing a proposal to replace those units entirely, so they can determine the best course of action.
Crawmer’s has been replaced for vehicle maintenance. They have found someone who will come to the firehouse and do the preventative maintenance. This company is Rescue Tech and they charge $35 / hour less than Crawmers and all they service are emergency vehicles.
Ohio Fire Chiefs Conference was last week. Craig said they learned that our department is not the only one having staffing issues. The whole conference was based on how to get people to work and keeping staff.
Assistant Chief: none.
Road Report: Culvert on Greenhouse has been taken care of. The resident on Old Glory should be happy with repair. Concrete has been started on Shaw Road. Southeastern came for the new hoe to make repair. The dump truck had to be repaired. The steering arm had gone bad.
Erica Atkinson at 8205 Butcherknife Road called Derek about wash-boarding at the bottom and issues with the condition of the road. Derek said he drove across it and it was pretty bad. Larken plans to visit that site in the morning.
Logan Goins is going to put in new fence on Porter Run Rd. Derek went out to review where the fence is going to be installed due to road right of way concerns. There is a tree or two that the resident would like to remove because they are hugging the road. Larken suggested taking out the trees and installing a culvert there because there is flooding issues there as well.
Larken brought up that the 3 roads that will be paved have some items that need taken care of. Ditching on Crock is going to take some time and there is a culvert that needs replaced. Carson Road has some trees and then stump removal that need completed before it can be paved. Huggins needs will only take a day or two to get ready. He figures it will take about 30 days to get everything ready on all 3 roads.
Old Business: None.
New Business: Elson stated there is a stop sign that needs replaced on 4th and Axline. Mr. Cornett stated there is a school bus sign on Darlington that is missing a bolt. The sign is upside down since the top bolt is missing.
Trustees Reports:
Elson—none.
Dozer— none.
Slack—none.
Fiscal Officer Report:
· Distributed Grassroots Clippings
· Maysville Water – 5745 Crock Road property. Will pay a monthly minimum for water - $25/ month. They can shut off the water and remove the tap but when it is reconnected there will be a $2500 tap fee. Dozer made a motion to remove the tap, Larken seconded. Motion Carried. Fiscal Officer will contact Maysville Water and have them remove the tap.
· Presented letter from County Auditor giving Local Government revenues for 2024 in the amount of $10,793.25. Signatures from all Trustees needed.
· Presented Resolution 14-2023 – to reallocate line items in both road funds to “contracted services” line item to allow for paving cost.
· OTARMA insurance is due September 1st. Craig is removing 8 Motorola portable radios, adding Genesis electric rescue tools for $40,000.00, increasing the radio base tower coverage from $20,000.00 to $50,000.00, add a Kenwood Viking radio for $3,800.00. On vehicles: Increase the coverage on the Aerial ladder to $1,250,000.00, 2014 Pierce Dash increase to $750,000.00, 2018 Brush Truck increase to $85,000.00. Last year when the Navistar medic was replaced, that truck got left on and 2017 Ford was removed by accident, so it needs added back on and covered for $400,000.00. The Dodge Medic needs increased to $400,000.00. Craig noted that the vehicles needed to be covered for replacement costs. Larken asked about the insurance amount on the existing tower and Craig said it is fine.
o Trustees agreed to keep liability at $5,000,000.00.
· Email from Andy Roberts regarding demolition funds available to tear down abandoned structures – deadline to have those properties submitted is 9-15-2023.
Trustee Elson made a motion to pay bills. Trustee Dozer seconded the motion. Motion carried.
All bills presented were deemed to be valid expenditures and were to be paid as presented.
Next regular meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 at 6:00 pm
Meeting adjourned at 7:27 pm.
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